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The triumph of the Cuban revolution on 1 January 1959 immediately called attention to a country hardly thought about in the United States as anything more than a place of tropical promiscuity, frequented by tourists in pursuit of illicit pleasures and risqué amusements—a setting for honeymoons, a playground for vacations, a brothel, a casino, a cabaret, a good liberty port. With a few notable exceptions, it was impossible to argue that a “scholarship” on Cuba existed in the United States. Everything changed after 1 January 1959, and over the last 50 years, a formidable body of scholarship has...

The triumph of the Cuban revolution on 1 January 1959 immediately called attention to a country hardly thought about in the United States as anything more than a place of tropical promiscuity, frequented by tourists in pursuit of illicit pleasures and risqué amusements—a setting for honeymoons, a playground for vacations, a brothel, a casino, a cabaret, a good liberty port. With a few notable exceptions, it was impossible to argue that a “scholarship” on Cuba existed in the United States. Everything changed after 1 January 1959, and over the last 50 years, a formidable body of scholarship has assumed prodigious proportions. Mainly, this literature has focused on politics, policies, and the performance of the Cuban revolution, spanning such diverse subjects as economic development, government, foreign policy, leadership, race relations, gender, and the arts. Within these general categories, subthemes have developed. For example, no other single facet of Cuban international relations has received as much attention in both countries as Cuban relations with the United States. Similarly, the study of leadership in the Cuban revolution has focused almost entirely on the biography of Fidel Castro. This is also a literature singularly characterized by a point of view. On the subject of the Cuban revolution, neutrality is rare. Almost everyone who writes on Cuba has a “position” on the revolution. This is not intended to invite suspicion about the quality of the scholarship. Rather, it is meant to call attention to one of the salient, if not always apparent, qualities intrinsic to the scholarship on the Cuban revolution. This guide seeks to provide a context for this literature. The sources cited here are informative, are representative of the field, and seek to offer a balanced perspective.